Tice v. Centre Area Trans. Auth.

• Decision Date: 08 March 2001
• Docket Number: No. 00-1753,00-1753
• Citation: 247 F.3d 506
• Parties: (3rd Cir. 2001) RANDY L. TICE, APPELLANT v. CENTRE AREA TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY; AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE, COUNTY, AND MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES, COUNCIL 83; AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE, COUNTY, AND MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES, LOCAL 1203-B Argued:
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit

Page 506

247 F.3d 506 (3rd Cir. 2001)

RANDY L. TICE, APPELLANT v. CENTRE AREA TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY; AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE, COUNTY, AND MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES, COUNCIL 83; AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE, COUNTY, AND MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES, LOCAL 1203-B

No. 00-1753

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

Argued: March 8, 2001

Filed: April 23, 2001

On Appeal From the United States District Court For the Middle District of Pennsylvania (D.C. Civ. No. 98-CV-01755) District Judge: Honorable James F. McClure, Jr. [Copyrighted Material Omitted]

Michael J. Zicolello, Esquire (argued) Schemery & Zicolello 330 Pine Street One Executive Plaza, Suite 201 Williamsport, PA 17701 Counsel for Appellant

Robert L. Martin, Esquire John U. Baker, Esquire (argued) Lee, Martin, Green & Reiter, Inc. 101 Innovation Blvd., Suite 311 State College, PA 16803 Counsel for Appellee Centre Area Transportation Authority

Before: Becker, Chief Judge, McKEE, and Stapleton, Circuit Judges.

OPINION OF THE COURT

Becker, Chief Judge.

This is an appeal by Plaintiff Randy L. Tice from the District Court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendant Centre Area Transportation Authority of State College (CATA) in Tice's action for damages under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), 42 U.S.C. S 12101 et seq. Tice advances three claims: (1) that CATA discriminated against him on the basis of disability by discharging him, on a pretextual basis, in October 1996; (2) that CATA discriminated against him by requiring an improper medical examination as a condition of his return to work in June 1996; and (3) that CATA failed to safeguard his medical records properly. This appeal requires us to interpret for the first time the ADA's provisions regarding permissible and impermissible medical examinations and inquiries, located at 42 U.S.C. S 12112(d).

Firstly, in deciding Tice's claim of discriminatory discharge, we must determine whether Tice was "disabled" within the meaning of the Act. This requires us to decide whether a plaintiff can establish that he is "regarded as" disabled by his employer solely by virtue of the employer's request for a medical examination. Secondly, in the disposition of Tice's alternative claim that he was subject to an improper medical examination, we must consider the scope of the limitations placed by the ADA on employer-mandated medical examinations and inquiries. Thirdly, Tice's last claim requires us to consider whether a violation of the ADA's provisions regarding the confidentiality of medical records constitutes a per se compensable injury.

We ultimately conclude that an employer's request for a medical examination, standing alone, is not sufficient to establish that the employer "regarded" the employee as disabled, and thus cannot itself form the basis for establishing membership in the protected class under the ADA. As a result, Tice's claim of discriminatory discharge fails. We interpret the ADA to permit medical examinations and inquiries upon a showing by the employer of job-relatedness and business necessity, and, because CATA has made such a showing in this case (which Tice has failed to rebut), we conclude that his claim of discrimination by way of an improper medical examination must also fail. Finally, we join several of our sister circuits in holding that a plaintiff alleging a violation of the ADA's recordkeeping and examination requirements must demonstrate the existence of some actual damage in order to maintain his or her suit. Because Tice has not demonstrated that he suffered any injury as a result of CATA's recordkeeping violations, he cannot prevail on this claim. Therefore, we will affirm the judgment of the District Court.

I. Facts

Randy Tice has a long and checkered employment history with CATA. Therefore, because determinations under the ADA are quite fact-specific, we must recount much of the minutiae of Tice's odyssey through CATA's medical leave procedures.

Tice began his employment with CATA as a bus driver in 1988. During the relevant periods of Tice's employment, CATA's collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1203-B (the Union) allowed employees with serious injuries or illnesses to take up to two consecutive years of unpaid leave (while continuing to accrue seniority) for any single medical condition. If the employee did not return to work after two years, the employee would be deemed to have "voluntarily resigned" under the terms of the CBA. However, if an employee were to return to work before the expiration of the two years and then leave again for the same illness or injury, the return would only interrupt the two-year time clock if that employee worked for a minimum of six weeks before going back on leave. CATA's policy was to require that after taking such leave, the employee only be permitted to return after submitting a "Return to Work Certificate" from a treating physician, affirming that the employee was physically fit to resume his or her duties.

In October 1993, Tice was injured at a McDonald's restaurant when a utility room door opened suddenly and struck him in the back. He continued to work until February 1994, when he informed CATA that back problems resulting from the injury required him to take medical leave. Tice remained on leave throughout 1994 and all of 1995, except for a few brief periods when he attempted to return to his job but quickly discovered that his back injuries would not allow him to continue. His last such attempt took place for several weeks from September to October 1994, after which time he submitted to CATA a note from Dr. Wayne Stokes stating that Tice was "to be off work until further notice and evaluation by surgeon." Subsequently, Tice submitted periodic updates on his condition to CATA, including a letter from a surgeon, Dr. Keith Kuhlengel, recommending that Tice receive back surgery. In the exchange of correspondence, CATA reminded Tice that if he desired to return to work, he would need to submit a doctor's note certifying that he could perform his duties without risk.

In April 1996, Tice informed CATA that in July he would be undergoing the back surgery recommended by Dr. Kuhlengel however, in early June, Tice advised CATA that he had canceled his surgery and submitted a Return to Work Certificate, signed by Dr. Kuhlengel, stating that Tice could return to work if given an "air ride seat with lumbar support, power steering, lumbar work belt, 8 hr/day." The certification did not comment on the safety of Tice's return, either to himself or to his passengers.

CATA requested further information from Dr. Kuhlengel before allowing Tice to return and, after an initial exchange of letters, CATA informed Tice that he would be required to submit to an Independent Medical Examination (IME) before he could be reinstated. No CATA employee before (or since) had ever been required to submit to an IME after taking medical leave, and CATA had not warned Tice of such a possibility in its earlier correspondence.

Tice filed a number of grievances with the Union regarding the delay in reinstatement. At this time, Tice also complained that CATA's method of recordkeeping improperly commingled confidential medical information with non-confidential personnel information, in violation of the ADA's recordkeeping requirements. See 42 U.S.C. S 12112(d)(4)(C). In the course of union grievance procedures, CATA admitted that it had inadvertently failed to comply with the ADA's recordkeeping requirements, but promised to modify its policies. After these violations were remedied, the Union withdrew this grievance.

Tice submitted to the IME in August 1996, and was diagnosed with "lumbar spondylolysis with degenerate disc disease." The examining physician stated that with exercise and medication, Tice would nonetheless be able to work, and he returned to his job on August 21, 1996. He then settled his grievance with CATA regarding the IME. The seniority he had accrued while on leave entitled him to bid on driving routes with newer buses that were equipped with the seating and steering accommodations he required.

Tice worked for CATA for a month (from August 1996 to September 1996). However, on September 24, 1996, Tice was injured in an automobile accident unrelated to his employment with CATA, and submitted to CATA a note from Dr. Stokes stating that he would not be able to continue to work because he had "sustained a shoulder contusion and bursitis and reexacerbation of his back pain."

In October 1996, Tice's two-year period of leave was close to expiring because his brief return did not meet the six-week minimum required under the CBA. CATA informed Tice that he would be deemed to have voluntarily resigned if he did not return by October 24, 1996. In response, on October 24, Tice submitted a note from one Dr. Worobec stating that due to a rotator cuff injury incurred in the automobile accident -- ostensibly a new injury, unrelated to the back injury that had originally kept him out of work -- Tice would need to refrain from working for another two weeks. A few days later, CATA informed him that it now considered him to have resigned.

Both during his medical leave from CATA, and after his termination in October 1996, Tice worked part-time cleaning and restocking for Allegheny Airlines, a job which he held until May 1997. Upon further training, he began work as an airline mechanic, continuing until February 1998, when he injured his knee falling from the cockpit of a plane, requiring that his duties be lessened. Tice eventually left this employment because of an inconvenient commute. Subsequent to his employment with CATA, Tice also ran a ticket-sales operation out of his home.

II. Procedural History

After his termination from CATA, Tice filed a grievance with the Union. The case was arbitrated in April 1997. The grievance and arbitration dealt only...